Fishing: Roger’s Remarks for July 29

I have to admit that I do some pretty stupid things — especially when visions of fishing grandeur overcome my common sense! I was glumly contemplating this issue on a recent Sunday at Millerton Lake while waiting in line to launch in the middle of total chaos. Helpless, I finally decided to relax and watch. Add in the low water conditions and the fact that there were only two docks, and it didn’t take long before the fun began.

Since docking is a premium item, most sane boaters trying to load up were just letting guys off at the dock to get their rig. At that point, they usually left the congested ramp area till the trailer was backed down for loading. Of course there’s a contrarian in every crowd, and one guy had a big 25-plus-foot pontoon boat that he had tied up to the dock and wasn’t going to move for anyone! In addition, this group unloaded the biggest water toy rides possible onto the dock (plus everything else) and took up the entire space. Unloading after pulling out wasn’t on their menu.

Unfortunately, two of the guys were huge. I could see that other boaters were ticked, but all seemed to have reached the same conclusion: Let some other courageous boater (idiot!) tell them to move. No one was brave enough to be the sacrificial lamb, and I wasn’t volunteering either. They took over the dock for 20 minutes. By the looks they were getting, I think they would have clearly won the “Most Likely to be Sunk!” award that day!

Then there was the one poor guy I saw who ran to get a rig to load but clearly his buddy in the waiting boat had him backing up a rig that he wasn’t at all familiar with — in traffic! He desperately tried again and again to back his way down while just a few yards away, at least 20 pairs of fuming eyeballs followed his every failed attempt. I almost laughed as the frantic and sweating driver backed down about 20 feet only to have the trailer fishtail to one side. He would quickly pull back up to straighten it out, but did this again and again — a dance that went on for 5-plus minutes with no progress. The harder he tried, the worse it got. Such pressure!

Mercifully, he finally turned the wheel the right way as he backed into the water. He looked panicked and almost ready to cry at this point! I wanted to cheer for the poor guy. Funny, I heard his buddy yell out from the boat, “Hey Jim, I thought that you had lost your touch, but I think you finally got it back!” Some friend.

In another adventure I saw four guys in a small aluminum boat frantically trying to get their boat positioned on a trailer that didn’t have any side guides to center the craft. In addition the driver had backed in too deep, so the boat was floating way above the trailer and each time they pulled the rig out it was either sitting on top of the wheel well or canted at a 45 degree angle on the trailer. They each thought they knew what to do, but each time they pulled out — no matter what they did — the boat would be sitting in some new direction. It reminded me of a Keystone Cops movie as they pulled in and out at least 10 times! Thankfully,someone must have had an epiphany. After all their tries, they finally pulled the still canted boat up the ramp where they all just lifted it up and into position. Ha!

Yes, busy launching ramps are almost as much fun for me as going to a wedding! I avoid both at all costs when I can, but try to relax and have a good time if I’m stuck there! Never give up!

This story was originally published July 28, 2015 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Fishing: Roger’s Remarks for July 29."